No. 16 SDSU at Fresno State

Series: SDSU lead 54-48 and has won the last four in a series that goes back to 1940 and is the oldest in school history.

Aztecs outlook: The big question is Xavier Thames’ back; Coach Steve Fisher lists him as doubtful and will start James Rahon or Winston Shepard if he can’t go. At stake is SDSU’s 31-game win streak against California schools, which according to STATS Inc. is the third longest active streak in the nation against teams from a single state since 1996-97. Syracuse (against New York schools) and UConn (against Connecticut schools) each have 32-game streaks. SDSU’s last trip to the Save Mart Center was hardly a rout, with SDSU winning 62-58 in 2009 thanks to a pair of tiebreaking free throws by Billy White with 19 seconds left.

Bulldogs outlook: They make their Mountain West debut against a former conference mate, SDSU and Fresno State both being in the WAC until 1999. Coach Rodney Terry, Rick Barnes’ former assistant at Texas, is in his second year at Fresno State. His big recruit is freshman Robert Upshaw, a 7-0, 250-pound center rated the fourth-best prospect in California out of San Joaquin Memorial High. Junior G Tyler Johnson is averaging 13.9 points over the last seven games, including a career-high 19 in a 64-59 win at Long Beach State. The other wins against Div. I schools are Pacific, Cal Poly and UC Riverside. The Bulldogs will wear red uniforms at home for the first time as part of “Red Out” festivities.

--MARK ZEIGLER

The hope was that Xavier Thames would wake up Tuesday morning and his lower back would feel better.

It didn’t.

The starting San Diego State point guard didn’t participate in live drills at practice again Tuesday morning, and Coach Steve Fisher declared him “doubtful” for the Mountain West opener at Fresno State on Wednesday night (8:30 p.m., Time Warner Cable SportsNet). If Thames can’t go, Fisher said senior James Rahon or freshman Winston Shepard would start in his place.

Thames first tweaked his back in practice on New Year’s Day, played the first half against Cal State Bakersfield last Wednesday, then left early in the second half after feeling a twinge when he reached back for a pass. He re-aggravated it again in practice Sunday.

Fisher won't make a final decision until Wednesday night, but he didn't sound optimistic.

“I’m concerned about it because he’s hesitant to try anything live right now,” Fisher said shortly before the team boarded a bus for the 5-hour ride to Fresno. “He’s going to have to make significant improvement to play.”

Rahon is a fifth-year senior who started 30 games as a junior and three times this season when teammates were injured. But Rahon is a shooting guard, which would either push 6-foot-7 JJ O’Brien to a point-forward – guarding the other team’s 4-man on defense and running the point on offense – or give the primary ballhandling duties to Chase Tapley.